Fatal head injury caused by a crossbow arrow with unusually preserved posttraumatic volitional activity – case report

Summary

The authors deal with a case of suicidal attempt resulting in a fatal head injury. A young man shot himself with a serially produced mechanical sports crossbow. The young man with a critical intracranial injury, a penetration, was nevertheless capable of basic locomotive activity, as well as of coherent communication with another people present at the scene. The critically injured patient was transported from the scene directly to medical centre where he subsequently underwent a neurologic surgery. On the eight day after the incident he died in the hospital as a result of sustained wounds. During the autopsy, a penetrating arrow-shot wound head injury was certified, occurring in the right and left temple area. Signs of a complex decompressive craniectomy were established too. The shooting channel was generally horizontally oriented, extending from the right to the left side, from behind in a 10 up to 15 degrees angle to the frontal plane, penetrating the brain from the right temple lobe and the frontal lobe, thereby pervading also frontal horns of lateral ventricles, and from the left afflicting the frontal lobe on the left side of the brain. In the course of the shooting channel, brain contusion occurred, accompanied by intraventricular haemorrhage. In addition, a heavy cerebral oedema, multiple secondary malacias, Durett haemorrhages and extensive thrombosis of cerebral sinuses were stated. In the course of police investigation, based mainly on the information given by the wounded man right after he had been found at the scene, it was revealed that another person might have been involved. The forensic autopsy, the investigation of the Police and the subsequent criminalist-ballistics expert investigation, supported by a series of experimental substitutive target shots, didn’t, however, decidedly prove that any other culprit had been involved.

Keywords:
mechanical firearm – crossbow – intracranial injury – suicide – volitional activity